Chelsea has completed the £58 million transfer of Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia.
The base fee is £53 million, plus £5 million in add-ons, with the 19-year-old signing a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s first-choice midfield this season will most likely consist of Lavia, Enzo Fernandez, and Moises Caicedo as a result of the deal.
On completing his move to Chelsea, Lavia said: “I’m really happy to join Chelsea and be a part of this exciting project. It’s an amazing football club with a great history and I’m really excited to get started.
“I can’t wait to meet all my new teammates and build chemistry together to achieve great things together.”
Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley added: “We are very pleased to welcome Romeo to Chelsea. He demonstrated his quality in the Premier League last season at Southampton, showing maturity despite his young age, and is a player we have monitored for some time.
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“We believe he is ready to make an impact at Chelsea throughout the current campaign, and in the coming years.”
Chelsea signed Lavia before Liverpool after the Reds struck a deal with Southampton.
According to Sky Sports News, the overall deal agreed between Liverpool and Southampton was around £60 million, but the Belgian midfielder has stated his intention to move to Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool had lost Caicedo to Chelsea, who paid a British record £115 million for the Brighton midfielder. Liverpool had a £111 million bid approved by Brighton, only for the 21-year-old to notify them that he was only interested in joining Chelsea.
Lavia began his career with Anderlecht in Belgium, where he spent eight years until joining Manchester City at the age of sixteen.
In September 2021, he made his senior debut at the Etihad Stadium, starting in the EFL Cup against Wycombe Wanderers in a 6-1 triumph.
The midfielder made one more appearance for City before joining Southampton last summer. Lavia appeared in 34 games for the Saints during their relegation season at St Mary’s.
Chelsea have now spent a record-breaking £343.9 million this summer.
Lavia is the club’s 11th signing of the transfer window, following the signings of Moises Caicedo (£115 million), Christopher Nkunku (£52 million), Axel Disasi (£38.8 million), Nicolas Jackson (£32 million), Robert Sanchez (£25 million), Lesley Ugochukwu (£23.1 million), Angelo Gabriel, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Diego Moreira, and Alex Matos (all undisclosed).
